Just a follow-up on the non buffered aspirin treatment Arlyn had read about in an old iris bulletin. I have used it now on three 'goners' and all have stopped their decaying process. First, leaving the rhizome just where it was planted, I removed the mushy leaves and then I scooped away the soft orangey/tan tissue out of the rhizome. I used warm water and dissolved two non-buffered aspirins in it and drenched the soil slowly around the rhizome. I made sure no soil was on top of the rhizome in order to give it a chance to dry out and the 'wound' to callous over. The result has been great in all three cases. The first one first showed a bit of green on it, which was very encouraging, and now it has a new little fan about 1/2 inch tall, the other two have stopped the decaying process and there are very tiny green sprouts that, if they have enough time before frost, will become little fans. I will leave them alone and just treat them as I do the other irises and hope they make it through the winter. If their roots are responding like the above soil surface areas are they might just have a chance.
